It’s very hard for my brain to work when my mind is hovering around the drops of sweat trickling from head to toe…Its sooooooo very Hot around here. And come to think of it, the people on other side of globe celebrate summers

Well summers reminded me of summer vacation of my kid and everyone around pops the same question at my face…”what are your travel plans this vacation”?

Traveling for me is as cumbersome as it could be, but its more torture for the people moving with me (With people i mean ,generally Hubby). Local Trains are too crowded to hang around with a cranky kid, Mail trains takes too long to reach to the destination. Flights , Buses and four wheelers are simply out of question (Severe Motion sickness problem for me), two wheeler is not a good  choice in Monsoon (though i love the idea ) and scorching summer.The only option left, if we plan something nearby, is a Three wheeler. Sounds crazy ?? But hey,  i so much love this Dhinchaak mode of transport, that sometimes i tease hubby dear to get that one , instead of a car.

Now the mode of transport is already a big issue to be dealt with, while deciding where to go, upon that our pampered son just could not adjust with any delays , be it for  drinking water or eating meals. His requests for peeing has to be addressed immediately , and the place where we are visiting  should not be hot, humid, too cold, and no rains around . The water should be safe to drink, the food available should be non spicy and not floating in oil , the place should be interesting enough to hold his attention (which means it should have loads of games around), and it should not be a water park (Yeah my son is not at all fond of swimming). Phew…Hubby dear goes crazyyyyyyy with  his too demanding wife and kid, and this results in very few outings for the family

So now while sitting at home , i can only talk about food, and that i must do quickly, since today we are discussing one of my most favourite Side Dish, Dhaas Meyah

Meyah or Tinda, also called Indian round gourd or apple gourd or Indian Baby Pumpkin, is a squash-like cucurbit grown for its immature fruit, a vegetable especially popular in South Asia

This unique squash-like gourd is native to India, very popular in Indian curry and many other gourmet dishes. Green colored, apple sized fruits are flattish round in shape and 50-60 grams in weight.(Source : Wiki )

The word Dhaas roughly means a whole , stuffed vegetable like potato, okra, bittergourd, capsicum etc, generally a dry dish (though sometimes the cooked stuffed veggies are dunked in a curry or gravy) , served along with regular Dal rice, making the meal a wholesome one.

Dhaas Meyah or Stuffed Apple Gourds :

Ingredients:

• Apple Gourds or Meyah 3-4
• Onions 3
• Green chillies 3
• Garlic 4 cloves
• Coriander leaves , a handful
• Ginger about an Inch size
• Salt as per taste
• Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder 1/4 tsp(optional)
• Oil for shallow frying

Here is how the stuffing looks like :

Method:

• Wash, peel and slit the gourds making a Cross. The slit should be more than half way of gourds
• Add some salt and keep aside for 10 minutes
• Meanwhile peel and grate onion, pound green chillies, coriander leaves, garlic and ginger(optional) in mortar pestle(Hamam Dasta)
• Mix grated onion, and pounded mixture, add some salt, and dry masalas
• Stuff  the gourds with this mixture and  Shallow fry  with minimum oil, on a low flame . Keep the remaining stuffing aside

• Keep on tossing the gourds at regular intervals
• When these change bit of colour, add the remaining stuffing and saute again on bit high flame.If the mixture tend to stick to the bottom of pan, add few spoons of water
• Now lower the flame and place a lid over the pan. Keep some weight over the lid  (e.g a heavy utensil)
  
• Cook till stuffing changes its colour, and the gourds are cooked( prick with a knife to check whether the knife slides in smoothly)
• This could take anywhere between15-30 minutes (depending upon the size and tenderness of gourds) . If in hurry, these could be pressure cooked( Follow the same procedure, first let the stuffed gourds change their colour, then add remaining mixture and cook again for a minute,then add 6-7 spoons of water and close the lid of pressure cooker .Wait till 1 whistle and then put it on Sim flame for 1-2 minutes)
• After being fully cooked( the first picture was taken while these were partially cooked) Dhaas meyah will look something like this……
  

• Could be served  as a side dish with Dal chaawal, or Moong

This absolute favorite of mine goes to Easycrafts of Simple Indian food, for her  WYF-Side dish event

Ps:I am also sharing this Favorite dish of mine with Cilantro’s JFI-Jhiva for Cilantro event.

Jhiva for Ingredients OR JFI was conceptualized by Indira of the celebrated blog Mahanandi.

Other Dhaas vegetable recipes:

Dhaas Shimla Mirch

Dhaas Karela